China: Three Things Foreign Companies Need to Know About Chinese New Year

2019-02-02

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, is the most anticipated and celebrated festival in the Chinese calendar, but for businesses this can often be a disruptive time that requires advance planning and strategizing, according to an article from China Briefing.

The festival is not only the most important holiday in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, but is also influential in areas with major Chinese diasporas, such as Singapore. Several other Asian countries, including South Korea and Vietnam, celebrate their own lunar new year holidays as well.

The date of the festival is dictated by the Chinese lunisolar calendar and can therefore fall anywhere between January 21 and February 20. This year, the transition from the year of the dog to the year of the pig will begin on February 5, but preparations begin in the week leading up to that date, if not earlier.